Latest news with #MetropolitanHandicap
New York Post
12 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Post
St. John's donor Mike Repole and Rick Pitino horses strike out at Belmont Stakes
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Mike Repole walked downstairs from his first-row clubhouse VIP box at Saratoga and conferred with jockey John Velazquez on the edge of the winner's circle after Saturday's eighth race at Saratoga. The billionaire entrepreneur and St. John's basketball benefactor did not step inside. It was not his time. His horse, Fierceness, the winner of the 2024 Travers Stakes, the signature summer event at this historic track, finished second by 2 ¹/₂ lengths to California invader Raging Torrent in the $1 million Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap. While the 8-1 Raging Torrent earned an automatic bid to this fall's Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, Repole and trainer Todd Pletcher were left to pick up the pieces. 'If you told me he'd finish ahead of White Abarrio and Just a Touch, I'd [believe I'd] be taking my picture in the winner's circle,' Repole told The Post. 'You know, it happens. We knew [Raging Torrent] was going to go for the lead. He got brave. I thought at the 3/8ths pole we had him, the quarter pole we had him. And then I saw him open up and, you know, I don't know. 'It was a tough, tough race and a tough, tough loss,' Repole said, 'and there's absolutely no excuse.' Raging Torrent's jockey, Frankie Dettori, praised his horse's will to win. 'At the quarter pole, I was in the lap of gods,' the 54-year-old Italian rider said. 'He showed great determination to get to the line. 3 Raging Torrent races past Fierceness to the finish line to win the Metropolitan Handicap on Belmon Stakes Day at Saratoga Race Course on June 7, 2025. JASON SZENES/ NY POST 'He puts his head down, even when [Fierceness] pressured me [and he fought really hard.' Fierceness, the sub-even-money favorite, got into trouble immediately breaking out of the Wilson chute, which sends horses directly into the middle of the first turn. 'Johnny [Velazquez] said he broke so sharply he kind of hit the gate and came back with some blood on his mouth from hitting the gate at the start,' Pletcher said. 'The first 16th of a mile was pretty rough. They were bouncing around trying to get position. After that he got into the exact position we wanted to, he just couldn't get by the horse in the lead.' 3 St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino speaks with the media before a game against the Cleveland Guardians at Yankee Stadium, Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Bronx, NY. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST Repole said Fierceness likely will be targeted for the $1 million Grade 1 Whitney Stakes on Aug. 2 at Saratoga. In the 10th race, A.P. Kid, ridden by Velazquez and trained by Pletcher, ran past the leader at the top of the stretch and pulled away by five widening lengths. Repole and his contingent of 80 family and friends later watched long shot Uncaged finish out of the money in the Belmont Stakes. 3 Mike Repole watches his horse, Fierceness, finish second in the Metropolitan Handicap on Belmont Stakes day. Jason Szenes / New York Post Repole wasn't the only owner with St. John's connections to enter a horse on Belmont Stakes Day. Coach Rick Pitino's RAP Racing took a fourth place in the fifth race with Aggelos the Great. Pitino was not in attendance but told The Post in a text: 'We're disappointed. We all thought he was ready to win. But, you know, [it's] horse racing.' Pitino said he was told by jockey Manny Franco the horse did not like the muddy conditions.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
White Abarrio Stretches Legs At Saratoga With Eye Toward Met Mile
C2 Racing Stable, Gary Barber and La Milagrosa Stable's multiple Grade 1 winner White Abarrio reacquainted himself with the Saratoga Race Course main track Friday, posting a half-mile breeze in 49.27 seconds in company with New York-bred Bustin Bullet for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. 'He went a half from the three-eighths and he galloped out five-eighths, which was a little more than he should have, but we just wanted him to stretch his legs over the surface,' Joseph said. 'So far, so good.' Advertisement The 2023 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner arrived in Saratoga last Saturday from Gulfstream Park, where he drilled a five-furlong bullet in 59.20 on May 7. The 6-year-old son of Race Day is undefeated this year, boasting scores in Gulfstream's Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup in January and the Grade 3 Ghostzapper last out on March 29 with a 5 1/4-length tour de force. White Abarrio, who captured the 2023 Grade 1 Whitney at the Spa, is searching for an elusive win in the $1-million Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap (G1) on June 7 during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga, a 'Win and You're In' for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in November at Del Mar. White Abarrio finished third in the 2023 Met Mile and fifth in last year's running, both while in the barn of Rick Dutrow Jr. Joseph said White Abarrio will continue to do his training over the Saratoga main track in the coming weeks. 'He'll have two more breezes, and next week he'll have a pretty serious breeze between Thursday and Saturday,' Joseph, Jr. said. Advertisement Joseph has a handful of other prospects for the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, including recent Grade 3 Vagrancy runner-up R Disaster, who was a neck back of stablemate Haulin Ice in the 6 1/2-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares on May 4 at Belmont at the Big A. Campaigned by Averill Racing, Two Eight Racing and Anthony Mattera, the daughter of Awesome Slew could target the Grade 2, $300,000 Bed o' Roses on June 6. 'She's pointed there, and there is a possibility she could go somewhere else, but right now that's the race we're targeting,' Joseph, Jr. said. C2 Racing, Paul Braverman and Timothy Pinch's Indy Bay, who also worked a half-mile in :50.05 Friday over the Spa main track, is pointing to the $150,000 Jersey Girl, a six-furlong sprint for sophomore fillies, on June 8. The consistent daughter of Take Charge Indy has never been off the board in four starts, including back-to-back wins at Gulfstream in her first two starts for Joseph, Jr. with a tidy third-out graduation in March and a gritty three-quarter-length optional claiming win on April 25.
